Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast with Watermelon-Jalapeno Salsa

It feels like summer in Santa Barbara and this is the perfect dish for warm weather. Grilled chicken on the BBQ with a fresh fruit salsa. This salsa would be a good accompaniment to fresh fish too, especially seared ahi tuna.

From Cooking Light Magazine

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed seeded watermelon
1 cup (1/2-inch) cubed peeled ripe mango
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper (about 1 small)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt



Preparation
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator up to 4 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill.

Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 5 minutes on each side or until done. Combine watermelon and remaining ingredients. Serve watermelon mixture with chicken.

Art from the Heart

Samantha and I met Karen Putnam, owner of Art from the Heart, about a month ago and she invited the little budding artist Samantha to an intergenerational art class. It is an art program for all ages, from 6 months to 106 years young. It was held at the Samarkand Retirement home here in Santa Barbara which, by the way, isn't a bad place to end up at. It had the look and feel of a high-end hotel with cruise ship activities. Residents were playing shuffle board, taking dance lessons and lounging by the pool. I am sure there is maid service and BINGO, sounds good to me!

Karen led the group through several art activities and songs. It was really sweet to see the older one's interact with the younger one's and vice-versa.

Below are some pictures of Samantha with her new British friend Ms. Janet. I could tell Ms. Janet got a kick out of Samantha. Samantha painted a flower vase for her and then they tossed a ball back and forth. Samantha spilled paint on her nice shoes as well as hit her in the head with the ball. I kept apologizing for Samantha but I don't think she could hear me.

Random Kid Pic Post

Samantha playing "gently" with her brother

Sam teaching Thatcher all about technology

Thatcher looking very alert (a rare moment)

Sweet Sammie

He's not fond of the pacifier but has taken a liking to his fist (I am not giving up on the pacifier though)

Halibut en Papillote with Potatoes, Green Beans, and Sweet Onions

After Thatcher was born we were spoiled with homemade food deliveries by friends. Then we ate everything we had in our freezer. Then family arrived and we ate out nightly. And if I even look at another Trader Joe's sodium-laced, frozen, pre-made meal, I may get sick. With that being said, I am back to cooking and finally made something worth sharing.

Cooking fish encased in parchment paper holds in the moisture giving you a better chance of not overcooking it. I don't know about you, but when I overcook fish, I get so mad! Dinner is basically ruined.

I was awful at cutting the paper in a heart like the recipe below suggests (I am sure my toddler can cut shapes better than me) and after several attempts and an almost empty box of parchment paper, I gave up and just wrapped each piece of fish in a square sheet of the paper which I presume works just as well.

From Cooking Light Magazine

Serves 4

8 thin (1/4-inch) slices lemon
4 fresh bay leaves (optional)
4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil, divided
12 ounces small new potatoes, quartered
6 ounces green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup thinly sliced Vidalia or other sweet onion

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Cut 4 (15 x 24–inch) pieces of parchment paper and fold in half, like a book. Draw a large heart half on each piece with the fold being the center of the heart. Cut out heart, and lay it open.

3. Lay 2 slices of lemon in the center of 1 side of each piece of parchment; top with 1 bay leaf, if desired, and 1 halibut fillet. Sprinkle fillets evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Drizzle each fillet with 3/4 teaspoon olive oil. Fold other side of heart on top. Starting at the top of the heart, fold up both edges of parchment, overlapping the folds as you move along. Twist the end tip to secure tightly.

4. Place parchment packets on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes. Remove from oven; let rest for five minutes.

5. Cook potatoes in boiling water 8 minutes or until potatoes are almost tender. Add green beans to pan; cook 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain well; keep potatoes and green beans warm.

6. Working with one packet at a time, carefully open fish packets and pour liquid from packets into a large bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, vinegar, juice, mustard, garlic, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper; stir well with a whisk. Add potatoes, beans, and onion to oil mixture; toss well to coat. Divide vegetable mixture evenly on each of 4 plates. Top each serving with 1 fillet.

The Gymnast

Last week Samantha tried a gymnastics class at the Santa Barbara Gymnastics Club. She was in her element with all the running, jumping, tumbling, climbing and hanging. She absolutely LOVED it!

The only issue is that it is a very parent involved class, you don't just watch them from the sidelines. Miss Independent Samantha must have said, "NO, I Do It Myself!" a thousand times. While all the other parents were helping their kids go across the balance beam or catching them as they jump off something, Samantha was scaring the heck out of me running away from me and refusing any help. Several times I would just close my eyes and hope for the best. Plus it is hard to chase after her while I have Thatcher with me.

While Samantha left the class excited and ready for more, I was exhausted! We are definitely going to enroll her but I am thinking a Saturday class might be better so that I can have a little help from Todd. The poor thing asks me daily to put on her "lelatard" and if we can go to "jenastics".

Here she is getting prepared for class:

And yes, that is a rubber chicken she is running around with!

Easter Weekend 2010

We decorated eggs:

Samantha did an egg hunt with her friends:

Special Deliveries from the Easter Bunny:

Easter Brunch at Holley's:

The PEEPs Regatta (Click HERE to learn more)

PEP

It has been a busy week in the Fallon household. My parents, as well as my sister and her family visited us, but I will have to blog on that later as half of the pictures I want to post are on my sister's camera and she has yet to send them to me (Dear Michele, send me the pics!)............Oh and then there was Easter, Samantha went to gymnastics, Thatcher is a month old......so much to catch up on!

But first, I thought I would tell you all about PEP! PEP (Postpartum Education for Parents) is an organization that I both volunteer and serve as a board member on. PEP is a local non-profit group made up of trained parent volunteers who help ease the transition for new parents with a variety of helpful services.

One of the services we provide is a new parent discussion group. This is where I met all of my close Mommy friends and what made me decide to give back to our community and volunteer. Last November and December, I had the opportunity to lead one of the new parent discussion groups with my friend Marina and it was such a great experience. Here are a few photos from the group we led:

Another service we provide is a class called Baby Basics, which is designed to inform soon-to-be parents about the many choices available regarding baby care. One of the topics that we teach new parents is how to bathe a newborn. And guess who was the model bath baby this past Saturday???

That's right, baby Thatcher!

Here is a picture of the little guy in his birthday suit:

For someone who went from working full time in an office to becoming a full time stay-at-home Mom, PEP is something that gives me the mental stimulation that is sometimes missing in my daily tea parties with Samantha. Not that I would ever want to give up our tea parties ;)